Larry Shenk, Vice President of Alumni Relations, shares his notes, quotes and anecdotes from the world of baseball.

Focus on Tonight

Spell BrokenThe Phillies dominance of the Braves ended last night, a tough 1-run loss. We had won six in a row and were 14-2 against them this season.

Cole wasn’t sharp and yet he kept us in the game. The offense just couldn’t generate anything. We were down by a run after six innings but it seemed like more. We also made some key mistakes, something this club hasn’t done recently.

With four games left, all are big games. That said, tonight is a really big game. The focus is on Brett.

Checking Us OutThere were 18 baseball scouts at the game last night, all from teams that are in the running for the postseason.

As was reported earlier, the Phillies have two scouts, three in a couple of cases, following other teams.

Roster MeetingFor the second straight day, Pat Gillick and his staff, along with Charlie and his staff, met to go over the various postseason roster options.

Each participating club must submit its 25-man roster by no later than 10 a.m. (site time) on the day of the club’s first scheduled game for each respective series. More information on this will be forthcoming.

New Attendance MarksThe Phillies will establish a new attendance record tonight surpassing the old mark (3,250,092) set in 2004, the first year of Citizens Bank Park. It will mark the fourth time in the last 15 seasons the Phillies have exceeded 3 million.

We also set a new record on the road, 2,690,417, breaking the 1993 total of 2,666,219.

Really100 years ago, the Phillies total attendance for 77 home dates was 420,660. The Phillies finished fourth, 83-71.

We had two homestands this season of 10 games each (May 25-June 5); July 4-13) in which the attendance exceeded the 1908 total.

Changing PositionsJason Donald, an All-Star shortstop at Reading and the leading hitter on Team USA that won an Olympic bronze medal, is changing positions this off-season.

He played second base in the first FIL game in Clearwater yesterday. “We’re going to work him at second and third this fall to see how versatile he can be,” explained Mike Arbuckle. Donald will spend time in Clearwater and join the Arizona Fall League on October 7. He’ll play both positions there, too.

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